Michelinii Mufatto Bierzo “EnElCamino”
WHY WE LOVE IT
- From several vineyards over 50 years old in southern Ponferrada, Bierzo, Spain.
- Grown on silty loam soils with slate and quartz, at roughly 350 to 400 meters above sea level.
- Organically farmed.
- The village-level red in the family’s Bierzo range, and what the winery calls its purest, freshest expression of Bierzo.
Varietal: About 90% Mencía, with other local grapes such as Palomino, Doña Blanca, and Alicante Bouschet
Elaboration: The grapes are hand-harvested from old goblet-trained vines. About half the fruit ferments whole-cluster, with native yeasts and a short maceration. The wine then ages 10 months in clay amphorae.
Tasting Notes: Aromas of wild blackberry and violets, with earthy notes of damp soil, undergrowth and wet slate, plus herbs and black pepper. The palate is fine and fluid with an elegant texture, fine-grained tannins and a long, mineral finish.
PRESS
2021- 93+ Wine Advocate | 2022 – 92+ Wine Advocate | 92 Vinous
2023 – 94 James Suckling | 93 Wine Advocate | 93 Vinous
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Michelini i Mufatto is a family winery in Gualtallary, high in Argentina’s Uco Valley, built around a single organically farmed vineyard — Agrícola La Cautiva — at 1,550 meters in thin granite and limestone soils. Wines ferment in concrete and age in used barrels and foudres, with each soil-defined parcel vinified separately. The whites draw on old vines, including a 120-year-old Semillon block and a Chenin Blanc vineyard planted in 1970.
Before this project, Gerardo Michelini helped establish Zorzal with his brothers, one of the wineries credited with putting Gualtallary’s high-altitude terroir on the map. He came to wine through architecture and banking, and now runs Michelini i Mufatto with his wife, Andrea Mufatto, and their son, Manu. The family also makes wine in Bierzo, Spain.